


No Cost Too Great

by Fiirewolvar



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, tpk is a jerk kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-15 00:08:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16051412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fiirewolvar/pseuds/Fiirewolvar
Summary: My own interpretation of the story of The Pale King. I attempted to paint him as morally grey, though he becomes more of a hero towards the end.Warning: loads of fanon.TPK/White Lady is implied, but not focused on or outright stated.This is my first (complete) fanfic, I hope you enjoy it!Please tell me about any mistakes and I'll fix them!Sorry about the bad title...





	No Cost Too Great

The Sun’s beams shone across the land, blindingly bright, suppressing the Mind of the creatures on the ground below. And a Pale Wyrm, caught in these sunbeams, saw for a moment the face of the Radiance herself – both creator and suppressor of life, not allowing it to flourish despite having blessed so many with it – before being struck down and crashing to the ground below, its armoured skin being shredded by rocks and its massive maw opening to let out a roar.  
Several weeks later, a creature crawled out of the maw of the Wyrm’s carcass – which had been left undisturbed by the wild bugs roaming the area, either out of respect or fear. A simple crown of 7 spikes upon its head and its body the shape of any ordinary bug, the newly reborn Pale King felt the primal call that all reborn Wyrms feel – the desire to lead, to captivate others, to have others follow him, believe in him, worship him.

_Wyrms pull bugs into their thrall; till ages pass and kingdoms fall._

The Pale King began his long journey through his future kingdom’s far reaches – his former body beginning to decay, causing its pale hide to flake away and flutter in the wind. Few beings dared attack him, and those that did met a swift end, as the Pale King was already proficient at magic, despite having only taken this form for mere days.  
He made his way through some caverns dripping with water and to the pure blue lake above, and then upwards still, through caves of pink, glowing crystals in which he could feel the presence of the Radiance – until he reached the crown of the mountain, and with it, the tribe of intelligent, magically adept beings given Mind by the Radiance.  
The Moths were friendly towards him, but curious – he took the form of a lesser bug. How was it possible that he possessed a Mind of his own? The Pale King’s powers allowed him to communicate with the tribe using their language, and he simply pretended not to know – for fear that they would cast him out, or worse, attack him, for his blasphemy towards their God.  
He did not stay with the tribe of Moths for long – he helped them in return for their hospitality towards him, and took the gifts they gave – a simple robe and long, sharp weapon they called a Nail – before continuing onwards through the caves of his future kingdom alone. The many effigies they had of the Radiance made him horribly uncomfortable – as if she was watching him, awaiting his next move so that she could crush him to dust.  
His memories of his time in the body of a Wyrm were foggy and unclear. He had a sense of purpose, as all Wyrms did, but remembering how he’d arrived at this land, and remembering much of his time as one of the huge, flying beasts was impossible. The main things he recalled were the searing, blinding light, and the Moth that created it, and the fear he felt as he crashed into the ground and everything faded to black.  
He remembered that he never wanted to feel that again.  
Wyrms were empowered by their followings – the more bugs they had following them, and the more devoted those bugs were, the more powerful the Wyrm became. And so, the Pale King sought a following so large that he was invincible – anything to avoid that darkness returning.  
So he began exerting his powers over other’s minds, removing the Radiance’s grip on them and replacing it with free will. And he found, upon freeing them from the Radiance, bugs began to worship him as a God of their own accord.  
And so he came up with a plan, a plan that would make him invincible, a plan that would stop the bright light from ever being able to touch him again. He would create the greatest kingdom of all, an eternal kingdom, a kingdom full of bugs worshipping their immortal, all-powerful King.

-

_Hallownest._

This was the name he united his following under, and they began working towards it – learning how to develop as the Moths did, building homes and complex structures. However, an issue soon presented itself – the Radiance was not the only God that had laid claim to this network of caves.  
The first time the Pale King met a follower of Unn was when he, and a small group of his followers, roamed into the grassy caves underneath Howling Cliffs. The encounter was violent – the Pale King was left with only a few of the members of his small exploration party alive by the time that the grassy bug lay slain.  
Despite this, the Pale King was able to negotiate a deal with the followers of Unn – bugs who followed the roads towards where the capital of Hallownest was planned to be would not have to face the vicious warriors, and those who failed to do so did not fall under the Pale King’s protection, meaning that the grassy bugs could enact their own laws – the law of Unn - upon them.  
He and his followers made their way through Fog Canyon, admiring the strange beauty of the area – but the explosive nature of the jellyfish residing there made it difficult to develop and build, and they left to explore more hospitable places.  
The first encounter with the Mantis tribe of the Fungal Wastes was vicious – his followers were adept at fighting, but these creatures’ lives had been built around combat. However, the Pale King himself was able to dispatch any Mantis that attacked him. He challenged the Mantis Lords to a fight after realising that they would not negotiate with him unless he defeated them in combat, and was able to defeat all four of them, despite their relentless attacks.  
He was allowed to enter Deepnest through the Mantis’s great gate, with its horrifying critters, constant darkness and claustrophobic tunnels. Following his initial exploration of the place, he told his followers that it was too hostile, and that they would simply have to avoid expanding their kingdom in that direction, leaving it to be guarded by the Mantises.  
Following this, they came across the damp, dripping caves that the Pale King had travelled through after being reincarnated from his Wyrm form – the huge, empty caverns and constant rain and moisture made it the perfect place to be the center of the kingdom of bugs.  
The city was given the name City of Tears, referring to the melancholy air caused by the water constantly dripping down from the huge blue lake. This was where the bugs built huge structures, buildings stretching towards the cavern’s ceiling, with panels of glass allowing the bugs to look down upon all that had been built.  
This was where the civilisation of Hallownest truly began to develop – many of the Pale King’s followers settled down here, and began creating and innovating, first creating basic markers of civilisation like writing systems allowing them to keep a record of their history and a currency, known as Geo, that made trading goods easy, then creating complex machines and mechanisms like lifts that were able to transport dozens of bugs at once and doors that could be opened and shut by pulling a single lever.  
This did not happen instantly of course – developing the City of Tears from a couple of simple, squat homes into a sprawling metropolis took hundreds of years, and developing the rest of Hallownest’s civilisation took hundreds more. The Pale King’s small group of only a few hundred devoted followers grew into tens, then hundreds of thousands of bugs.  
However, the Pale King himself was untouched by time, meaning that he ruled without the need for heirs for the hundreds of years it took for Hallownest to fully develop. This just increased the citizen’s worship of him – whispers that the King was not just a King but, in fact, a God were frequent, and many bugs possessed effigies of him, to which they prayed when they hit hard times.  
However, he ruled alone the entire time, commanding others but never allowing them to be his equal. He had a palace built beneath the City of Tears, where the stone almost felt alive, and no one was allowed to enter but those who were most dedicated and important to him. He was an untouchable being, without equal – until scouts reported of another higher being, not a God but easily mistaken for one, residing in the caves past Greenpath.  
Upon meeting the White Lady for the first time, he realised how lonely he’d felt all of these years – he had simply been far above every other bug, with their short, mortal lifespans meaning that they faded and died before his eyes. However, she was above all of them as well – a beautiful yet dangerous being able to spread her roots and become one with the entire kingdom, both with the ability to create growth and spread life or choke it out of anything she willed. Immortal, above all lower bugs and yet deeply empathetic to them, she resided in a beautiful garden of her own creation, full of huge blossoms and wonderous creatures.  
They met for the first time very shortly after the news of her came back, and the connection between them was instant – both of them stuck in a world full of creatures too small for them, with tiny lifespans and brains that could not see the big picture. Though their attitudes towards the rest of the bugs of the world were quite different – the Pale King’s indifference to their plight was contrasted by the White Lady’s sympathy for them - both of them had been craving a companion, someone who understood them, for so long, that it only seemed like fate that they would meet.  
Politically, an agreement between them was met quickly – the White Lady had complete dominion over the Queen’s Gardens, where she would reside most of the time, and both of them would rule over the rest of Hallownest together, trying their best to help these tiny creatures that the White Lady had grown to love so much, and that the Pale King relied upon in order to avoid the choking darkness that he feared more than anything.  
Hallownest had been developed from a few hundred bugs in their small houses into a sprawling civilisation, stretching from Dirtmouth, located at the base of the Howling Cliffs, down to the depths of the Ancient Basin, where the Pale King’s palace was located. Bugs had begun travelling from the Crossroads upwards and through the mountain, venturing into Crystal Peak, aiming to mine and collect the shining crystals that could be found there – something that the Pale King found troublesome, as contact with the Moth tribe had not been made during the hundreds of years that Hallownest had existed.  
This was resolved simply however - the technology and luxury of Hallownest tempted many of the Moths away from their simple existence upon Hallownest’s crown. Some of the Moth tribe took issue with the fact that worship of the Radiance was frowned upon within Hallownest, as most people considered the Pale King to be the only God – but those that were able to let go of the Radiance and begin accepting the Pale King as their ruler were integrated into Hallownest’s society with ease, and the rest of them splintered off and continued worshipping the Radiance in secret, hiding their faith from the other bugs of Hallownest.  
And so, Hallownest thrived. Bugs of all kinds were able to live a life of luxury – it wasn’t a perfect society by any means, but it was beyond anything bugs could have dreamed of with their Minds lost to Light.

 _In wilds beyond they speak your name with reverence and regret,_  
_For none could tame our savage souls, yet you the challenge met,_  
_Under palest watch, you taught, we changed, base instincts were redeemed,_  
_A world you gave to bug and beast as they have never dreamed._

-

The Pale King had failed to realise that the Radiance would not allow this imposter to remain unchallenged forever.  
First, stealing the Radiance’s control over bug’s minds, then stealing the land she had dominion over, then finally stealing those who worshipped her and converting them to relying on the technology of Hallownest – there was no way she’d give up her dominion over the bugs of the world so easily.  
Hundreds of years of being the most powerful being of Hallownest had led the Pale King to believe that he stood unopposed – meaning that the reports of people dreaming of a bright light, brighter than his own Pale Light, were shocking and terrifying to him. The being that struck him down all of those years ago, the God that had caused him to succumb to that horrifying darkness...  
On the very same day he heard of the strange dreams, worship of the Radiance, and any iconography of her, were strictly outlawed, with death being the punishment if a bug refused to give either thing up.  
This seemed to work for a while - reports of the strange dreams stopped. However, perhaps because of the fact that he was never truly able to stop the worship of the Radiance, or perhaps because his attempts to stop her made her even angrier and more desperate – people began dreaming of the Light again. And where it was warm and welcoming before, it was now angry and painfully bright.  
The Infection began to take hold soon afterwards, with people who frequently dreamed of the Light slowly dying from an unclear cause – before being revived, appearing normal at first but attacking anyone that came near, before growing into horrifying monstrosities, with cracked shells with glowing bubbles of pus poking out. Those who had little to focus on or devote themselves to in their lives seemed most likely to be infected, with the Light seeming to slowly consume their minds, causing the richest and laziest bugs of Hallownest to be infected by the dozen.  
This made the population of Hallownest go into a panic. Many bugs lost faith in the Pale King after he was unable to save their friends and family, and some even blamed him for the infection, with a famous warrior known as Xero even attacking the Pale King, blaming him for everything, before being slain, and laid in a grave without even his name written on it – simply a warning for those considering doing the same.  
The Pale King was panicking – he could deal with some bugs turning against him, but the being that he thought he’d evaded was coming back, and she was furious. He had lost control over the Light, and had to find a way to contain the Infection, to preserve his eternal kingdom.  
And so he turned to a source of almost unlimited, chaotic power – the Void. He worked out quickly that the Void and the Light were vicious enemies – any infected being that went near the Void sea was attacked and quickly consumed by the vicious tentacles rising out of it. He simply had to find a way to get the Void to somehow contain the Light, without a chance of the Light escaping.  
By researching and experimenting, he found that the Void was, to a degree, able to contain Light, if given form – however, the Infection would not infect anything that was not alive. And for that reason, he came to the conclusion that if he was able to create a living being of Void, it was possible that the Infection would be able to be contained within.  
However, there was an issue – if a creature containing the Infection had any desire to be free of the pain of storing it in their body, the Infection was able to exploit this by taking control of the creature and breaking free. So any creature containing the Infection had to have a perfect, unbreakable will, so that the Infection would not be able to exploit their weakness and consume them.  
He needed to create a perfect being from the Void, with no will to break, no mind to feel the effects of the Infection, and no voice to cry out from the pain.  
He was able to control and contain the void, to animate it and give it shape – however, due to being almost pure Void, these beings were unable to become infected. Therefore, he looked to the White Lady for help – the life-giving powers of her Roots seemed like the perfect way for creatures to be created that are empty of will and mind, but still able to become infected by the Light.  
The experiment initially seemed successful, with creatures of Void and Root able to be created, and given form via the Pale King’s methods. However, these creatures all still seemed to have a mind and a will, making them unsuitable to store the Infection. Eventually, the Pale King realised that his own powers over other creature’s minds may allow for the creatures created to have no will. However, that meant that he would have to do something that he had never done before – creating a living being using his powers.  
Initially, the Pale King searched for another way – while the White Lady had accepted the fact that she would be needed to create a vessel in which to store the Infection, the Pale King was not prepared to create beings using his power, especially given the fact that the chosen being would be doomed to an eternity of pain. However, there was no other way, and the Infection was killing more bugs every day. Eventually, the Pale King and the White Lady, along with the best magicians and scientists in the kingdom, were able to work out a method that might allow creatures with the ability to contain the Infection to be created.  
First, thousands of masks would have to be created. These would be used to contain the void and allow it to take a physical form, as well as being able to impart a purpose upon the created beings – the powers of masks were not well understood, but they were able to control bug’s identities and selves to an extent, which was able to be used to impart the purpose of containing or destroying the Infection upon the created beings.  
These masks would be placed near the void sea, allowing the void to take form using them. The Pale King and White Lady’s powers would then be used to give the beings life, and tests would then have to be performed in order to find the purest being, and therefore the one most suited to containing the Infection.  
The test chosen was simply climbing out of the Abyss – in theory, a pure, mindless being would not be distracted by anything while attempting to escape, instead being motivated purely by desire to contain the Infection. Therefore, the first Vessel to reach the top of the Abyss was the one that would be chosen to contain the Infection. While it was not a perfect plan, there was not enough time to test each Vessel individually, meaning that they simply had to hope that the Vessel to escape the Abyss first was pure enough to contain the Radiance.  
The plan appeared to be successful. The very first Vessel to make it to the top of the Abyss was found to be empty of mind, devoid of will and voiceless enough to contain the infection. However, there was an unforeseen issue – the Vessels were tiny upon being created, and the Pale King decided that he did not want to take his chances with the Vessel being too small to contain the infection – at least, that was the reason that he claimed when he decided to raise the young Vessel.

-

The Pale King’s choice to train the Vessel to be a powerful knight was one that he tried, for a very long time, to justify to himself – it was important that the Vessel be able to defend itself! Hallownest was a dangerous place, even if that was reduced by the fact that the Vessel was constantly accompanied by multiple Kingsmoulds. Anything could happen – it wasn’t worth the risk of the Vessel being killed after being caught off guard by an attack of some kind.  
Plus, the Vessel needed the White Lady’s magic in order to grow, and she was often located in the Queen’s Gardens – which required a trek through Fog Canyon, which could sometimes be dangerous. Even though it could just take a Stag – sometimes the Stagways weren’t available, and it was crucial that they be prepared for every possible situation.  
And accompanying the Vessel on its journeys to go and see the White Lady was just common sense – he liked to see the White Lady himself, plus he was the most powerful bug in the entire kingdom, which meant that the Vessel was even more well-defended. Hallownest’s entire future depended upon this being – it only made sense to minimise the chances of it being harmed in any way.  
One particular memory that the Pale King thought about a lot was shortly after a training session – they had both moved to a balcony, allowing them to look over the grounds of the White Palace, at the many servants and important members of the kingdom scurrying below. Watching over this in silence, the Pale King had then turned after a moment to glance at the Vessel – who then returned the gesture.  
This had caused two reactions for the Pale King, one very quickly after the other – first, joy, as the vessel appeared to return the affection that the Pale King was attempting to convince himself that he didn’t feel, then a feeling of horror – if the Vessel felt affection, that meant... No. It was just a look. It didn’t mean anything. And the Vessel meant nothing to the Pale King either. It was just a tool, it only existed for the sake of saving Hallownest.  
And even if the Pale King was beginning to grow fond of the Vessel – that didn’t matter, right? As long as the Vessel didn’t return the favour, which it couldn’t possibly do.  
It was Hollow. It was the Hollow Knight.  
And so, the training continued, with the Vessel living in the White Palace, only leaving when it had to go meet with the White Lady in order to be grown up – and the more that the Vessel and the Pale King trained together, the less the Pale King could deny his affection for the Vessel.  
He’d never seen a creature with such a natural proficiency for combat before, both for magic and for the Nail – he supposed this was due to his influence. They duelled every few days, and the first time that the Vessel defeated him in a duel, he felt something that could only be described as pride, filling his entire being, warm and wholesome and yet so completely unwelcome.  
This continued for several years – perhaps longer than it had to, but the Pale King had decided that speeding up the Vessel’s growth could have unforeseen consequences. He was only spending a lot of time with this Vessel because its growth was taking so long – he had to be careful not to become fond of it, as the consequences could be unpredictable.  
He had to act as soon as possible in order to save his kingdom, after all.  
His kingdom. Hallownest. This is what he was doing all of this for. He rarely went around the kingdom itself – most of his affairs were handled in his palace – but whenever he saw an infected bug, dying, unable to do anything about it as its mind was stolen by the Light, he felt...  
He felt nothing. Nothing in comparison to what he felt at the thought of losing this creature, this Vessel, that he’d grown to love so much. He didn’t want his people to die, he’d prevent the infection in an instant if he could, but...  
He could find another Vessel from the Abyss. But it had already been so long, they must all be dead by now, or gone, having found another way out. What would the chances of the new Vessel being pure be? Not high enough.  
Plus he’d have to go through all of this with that one as well. It had been well over a year so far. He couldn’t delay this any longer.  
He made a decision one day. The Vessel was almost big enough to contain the Infection. That was his priority – he had to focus all of his energy working on a way to contain it, making sure...  
Making sure that the Vessel never escaped, that it never stopped suffering.  
Making sure that the Light was contained, forever.

_No cost too great._

The Pale King requested that the White Lady speed up the Vessel’s growth as much as possible, and sought other ways of making sure the Infection never escaped – he investigated the possibility of using the power of Dreams to seal the Vessel’s resting place, and found that it was possible to have certain beings who would have to be killed in order to open the egg - not in the physical realm but instead in the Dream realm.  
Therefore, he looked up and down the kingdom for any beings that would be willing to give their own lives for this cause, and settled upon two – his top researcher, Monomon the Teacher, and his most devoted follower, Lurien the Watcher. However, another third possible Dreamer came from an unlikely source – a beast of Deepnest, the place that had initially been presumed to be filled with nothing but mindless creatures and yet rumoured to have some kind of civilisation deep within the dark, twisting caves.  
A while prior, the Pale King had made his way through Deepnest once again, for the first time since he had deemed the place far too hostile and inhospitable for civilisation hundreds of years ago, and eventually discovered the Hidden Village, along with the Weavers that resided there, and their leader – Herrah, a huge, terrifying, yet incredibly intelligent spider-like beast. With this, he was able to form a kind of alliance with the Weavers – building a Stag Station that was only to be used by him and any Weavers conducting business in the rest of Hallownest and attempting to build a Tramway allowing access from Fungal Wastes, which eventually proved fruitless due to the untamed, crawling beasts’ tunnels.  
Herrah had helped him with finding a way to contain the infection that also afflicted her own Weavers, and now that he was looking for Dreamers to give their own lives to contain the Pure Vessel she came to him with an offer – if he was able to give her a child, she would give herself for the cause. The Pale King accepted after some deliberation, infusing one of Herrah’s eggs with his own power, allowing it to one day hatch into a child that would possess both of their traits.  
And with this, Herrah had sealed her own fate – she, along with Monomon and Lurien, would sleep forever in order to keep the Vessel contained within the black egg where it would reside. Herrah’s child hatched soon after, allowing Herrah some time with it – but only a short while after that, the Pure Vessel had grown to a point that it was deemed large enough to store the infection within.  
The day that the Pale King had been dreading approached too soon. He couldn’t put it off any more – people up and down the kingdom were becoming infected, and it would only get worse. He had to doom the child – the Vessel – that he had created to an eternity of suffering, of pain, in order to save his kingdom.

-

 _No cost too great._  
_No mind to think._  
_No will to break._  
_No voice to cry suffering._  
_Born of God and Void._  
_You shall seal the blinding light that plagues their dreams._  
_You are the Vessel._  
_You are the Hollow Knight._

-

All too soon, all too easily, it was done. The Pure Vessel had the heart of the Infection, the Radiance herself, contained within. The dreamers said their goodbyes and were put to sleep, and the Black Egg was sealed. The ceremony was quiet, with only the people who had been directly involved in the plan attending – the rest of the kingdom was not to know about the sacrifice, only that there was one and that they were safe.  
For the first time that evening, the Pale King mourned – he didn’t cry, but he felt emptiness and sorrow that he’d never experienced before. He’d lost people before – but they were simply gone as a result of their mortality, and they didn’t normally mean a lot to him. This was the first creature he’d ever cared about and then lost – this was the only creature he’d ever considered to be his child, and he’d had to give it up for the sake of his kingdom. He had a statue made honouring the sacrifice in City of Tears, and created a number of Soul statues of the Pure Vessel for his palace – but this didn’t help him with his misery and his guilt, and so he simply retired to the White Palace, trapping himself with his own projects and magic in order to distract himself.  
Similarly, the White Lady felt forced to restrain herself within the Queen’s Gardens – after having created so many Vessels, her own urge to spread her roots across the entire kingdom, choking all other life in order to enhance her own, became overwhelming and so she bound herself within a small dwelling, with the fierce Dryya - one of the Great Knights of Hallownest - protecting her.  
Aside from this, life in Hallownest appeared to return to normal. The Infection had vanished, and people were no longer dreaming of the Light. While those who had been killed by the Infection didn’t come back to life, those who had seen the Light in their dreams were safe. People largely avoided the new, mysterious structure in the Crossroads, with rumours flying around about what it was even for.  
Things remained steady for 20 years – Herrah’s child was named Hornet and was looked after and trained by the Weavers, the White Lady mostly lived in solitude and the Pale King only left his palace to occasionally visit her. Only the highest class, most devoted bugs of the kingdom were allowed within the Pale King’s palace, and so news on what the Pale King was doing was extremely hard to come by – many rumours were spread, but the truth was that even those allowed access to his palace rarely saw him, and when they did it was generally in passing.  
The Pale King hadn’t visited the Black Egg ever since the day the Vessel was sealed within it – every time he thought to, he was overwhelmed with feelings he had no name for, and so he’d avoided it. However, on the 20th anniversary of sealing the Vessel in the Black Egg, he finally decided to face it – hoping he’d finally been able to come to terms with his actions, meaning he’d be able to move on.  
Crowds of people gathered to watch him walk towards the Temple of the Black Egg, but he made his Kingsmoulds block anyone attempting to enter while he was in there, leaving him in solitude in the darkness. He slowly, quietly, walked up to the egg, paying little attention to the three dreamer’s masks – instead simply laying his hand on the odd, slightly warm surface.  
He remained there for a few minutes, then slumped to a kneeling position, and then a sitting position with his back against the egg. He noticed as tears began forming in his eyes and streaming down his face – he’d never experienced this before, why did it feel so awful? He closed his eyes and thought back to the couple of years he’d had with the Vessel, with his child – it had barely been a blink in comparison to his life, why did he care so much? And as for the other Vessels, trapped down in the Abyss... He’d avoided thinking about them for the entire 20 years but now all of his guilt came at once, leaving him unable to act, simply sitting against the Black Egg and sobbing.  
Thinking back to the times they’d shared – when he’d ordered that the Vessel should be allowed to grow up in order to protect it and delay the inevitable, when they’d shared that moment on the balcony, when the Vessel had defeated him in a duel.  
Thinking about the fate of the kingdom, thinking of his own fate, thinking of the White Lady and the Dreamers... it was too much, and he sat there, slumped against the egg with tears pouring down his face for hours, until he finally fell asleep.  
In his dream, he saw the Vessel.  
It had its back to him, and was wearing the garb it had been chained up in. He took a few faltering steps towards it, and called out its name, and it turned around, slowly.  
It looked as it had when it was first chained up – it was impressively tall, with an pair of huge antlers, a pitch black body underneath its cloak and a vicious, beautiful nail. It paused upon seeing the Pale King, then took a few steps towards him, stopping for a moment before breaking into a run and kneeling down upon reaching the Pale King, allowing them to embrace, for just a moment.  
And then everything suddenly shook, and the Vessel cowered back and covered its chest, which suddenly had horrifying orange blobs bursting out of it, and then the Pale King was rushing forward and the Vessel was roaring and everything was going so horribly wrong-  
And the Pale King was unable to move and was only able to watch as the Vessel he loved so much was lost, obscured by furious, blinding light. And in the middle of all of this, there she was, the being he hated and feared so much, the one who had caused all of this. He was seeing her again, seeing her face after hundreds of years, feeling the searing sunbeams and feeling himself crashing down to the ground and hearing her, screaming and furious whilst also completely silent –

 **I WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN.**  
**THE LIGHT CANNOT BE CONSUMED.**  
**I WILL BE FREE.**

And the Pale King screamed in terror and in pain, screaming first for his Vessel, for his child, and then for himself, and everything went blindingly white -  
And then his eyes snapped open, and he was lying on the ground next to the Black Egg, which had an orange mist seeping out of it, with a sickly sweet smell.  
He climbed to his feet and ran.

-

The next few weeks were a blur – the Pale King didn’t leave the White Palace, instead dedicating all of his time to working on a method of transporting the entire thing to within a dead Kingsmould’s Dream. He considered going to see the White Lady, but remembered the blinding light that would surely be in the eyes and shells of so many of the citizens of Hallownest, and decided instead to focus on saving himself, despite the fact that he could feel the faith and love of his citizens fading by the minute – and within a month his entire palace, along with his most dedicated followers, had vanished, unreachable except to those able to do the impossible and enter Dreams.  
Once in the Dream realm, he didn’t stop – filling the path to his throne room with hundreds of traps, spikes and sawblades and thorns designed so that any creature attempting to reach him would die a horrible death. This was the advantage of storing the palace in the mind of a Kingsmould – it was empty and yet able to be manipulated with ease.  
And then he brought out his own most precious memory, that moment he spent with the Vessel so long ago, and locked it away, using a seal that had been created for him by the Weavers a long time ago – not allowing anyone but himself to access it, for fear that she would appear in it and destroy it somehow, just like she was so determined to destroy everything that meant anything to him.  
And finally, he sat on his throne, in an empty throne room, having locked himself away from everyone, somewhere where no one would ever find him, where he could be alone, alive, protected by sawblades and spikes and Kingsmoulds.  
He closed his eyes and thought of his kingdom, of Hallownest – the Infection must be spreading wild by now. He had done nothing to prevent it – what was there to be done? He refused to doom another Vessel, and he realised now just how little he understood the Radiance and just how powerful she was.  
He thought of the White Lady. Would she ever be free, and able to roam Hallownest again? If so... what would she find? What would even remain of Hallownest? What would she think of him – would she blame him for what she saw, or would she understand his actions? She would probably be disappointed that he ran away, but after he saw that blinding light, he was so, so terrified...  
He thought of the sacrifices made to seal the Black Egg. Did the Dreamers know that they’d failed? The infection was running wild, the only possible way to stop it would be to open the Black Egg – and for that, the Dreamers had to die. How would that happen? Would it be possible? Would they accept it?  
He thought of the different tribes of Hallownest, those that obeyed him and those that didn’t. They had almost all been affected by the Infection the first time around – the Mantis tribe hadn’t, but they were the only ones, as far as he knew. Were they prepared this time? He doubted it.  
He thought of the Vessels, trapped at the bottom of the Abyss. What did they feel? Were they even still alive? They didn’t need anything to survive. Had they found a way out of the Abyss? They would keep looking, forever if necessary. Containing the Radiance was what they were made to do, and they wouldn’t rest until it was done.  
And finally, he thought of his Vessel, the Pure Vessel, the Hollow Knight. Did it remember him? Did it love him, like he loved it? Did it forgive him? Was it even able to anymore? That dream... it was gone. It had been consumed by the Light, it was completely under the power of the Radiance. His child was gone, and it was all for nothing. He’d destroyed his kingdom, he’d caused the White Lady to be trapped, he’d created thousands of doomed beings at the bottom of the Abyss, and he’d allowed the Radiance to take his child from him.  
He thought back to when he sealed the Vessel, when everything had been both simple and horribly, horribly complicated.

_No cost too great._

With that thought at the front of his mind, he slowly faded into a dream.

 -

_(NOTE: If you don’t like extreme levels of fanon, end your reading here. if you don’t like TPK and don’t want to read about him being a hero, end your reading here. If you REALLY like sad endings, end your reading here – this one will still be sad but more bittersweet.)_

The Pale King awoke, in an empty, silent throne room.  
It had been like this for months now. He had a bedroom, but he normally just slept on his throne – he didn’t care for comfort.  
He pushed himself to his feet and began walking in the direction of his lab, only stopping when he realised that the gentle clicking noises of his Kingsmoulds weren’t there.  
Something was wrong.  
No sooner had he realised this than the walls of the throne room seemed to fall away, exposing the Pale King to sheer, blinding light from every angle, and a heavenly roar, filling his brain with noise.  
She’d found him.  
She was going to kill him.  
He was suddenly overcome with panic, with fear, the fear he had repressed for so long – he was staring his own death, the Light, the beast he’d tried to repress and contain and seal away in the face – and he couldn’t act.  
He was frozen, every inch of his body was filled with panic and fear. He couldn’t even reach for his Nail. He realised he didn’t have it – he didn’t wear it while sleeping. This thought somehow dominated his mind as the Radiance began to charge up one of her searing, bright beams of light, like the ones that cut through his hide all of that time ago.  
All of that time ago.  
So much had happened since then.  
He’d built a kingdom, he’d met another higher being, he’d created a creature whom he’d loved like a child, and then sacrificed it in an attempt to prevent the beast currently staring him down from destroying everything he’d worked for, and the sacrifice had been for nothing as she’d broken out anyway.  
He’d ran away from her for so long, and attempted to seal her away, and nothing had worked.  
He remembered that he knew how to fight.  
He wouldn’t defeat her, he knew that much. But he could at least take some revenge, for everything that she’d taken from him.  
He felt power course through him, saw the sunbeam lighting up-  
And felt the familiar sensation of teleporting, vanishing just in time to avoid the attack.  
She had revealed herself to him. She had attacked him when he had nothing left to lose, when he was at his most desperate to do something, anything to stop her.

No cost too great.

Not even his own life.

The Pale King summoned a Nail, forming it from the magic coursing through his own body.  
The fight was a blur. She summoned huge Nails to strike him down and he dodged around them, then struck out for her, slashing for her eyes, and she teleported away with a heavenly sound.  
She summoned an array of sunbeams, and he teleported across the arena before attempting to summon a number of his own Nails, forcing her to stop attacking and dodge if she wished not to be impaled.  
They teleported around the arena and each other like a dance, each attempting to catch each other off guard, to land a blow that would change the course of the battle.  
He hit her many times. It was inevitable, with her size and bulkiness. However, the only attacks of his that seemed to have an effect were the ones that connected with her bright, glowing eyes, of which there were few.  
He was not going to win.  
She was a God, and he was in her realm. There was no way he stood a chance.  
He was simply trying to weaken her. Trying to create a chance for someone else - one of the Vessels, or some powerful magician, or another Higher Being - to have a chance at defeating her.  
He slashed away at her, despite the fact that the easy dodges became near misses and the fact that, more often than not, she was able to teleport away before his blows made contact.  
He thought of the White Lady, and the citizens of Hallownest, and his child, the Vessel, the one who meant so much to him, and every time he attacked he felt them behind him, giving him their strength where his own faltered.  
The near misses became scratches and slashes, and he was barely even able to hit her, and he felt his own limbs turning against him – pain searing through every inch of his body, his magic failing to cast and his limbs refusing to move.  
And even then he didn’t give up, doing anything he could to hurt her, striking at her body when he couldn’t reach her face and her legs when he couldn’t reach her body.  
And she could tell she was winning – her vicious onslaught faltered, and she began to almost seem as if she was gloating, making her attacks miss him on purpose like a cat toying with her prey, making sure he was aware she could kill him at any time.  
When the Pale King was finally defeated, dripping with his silvery blood and leaning on his Nail, she moved in for the kill, summoning a beam of searing heavenly light in order to destroy her adversary once and for all.  
And he saw an opportunity.  
Using the last of his magic, he teleported, then leaped and struck, straight at her eyes, catching her off guard. He felt his Nail sink in, meeting little resistance, then pulled it out, causing a flow of essence to follow, causing her to roar at an ear-splitting volume, before the sunbeam she was charging suddenly struck, and everything was bright and hot and burning-  
And there was darkness.  
The Pale King’s broken body tumbled to the ground below, his nail clattering away.  
Back in the throne room, the dreaming body of Hallownest’s king twitched slightly. A flash of light struck it, and it slumped forward, lifeless.

 

_**...No cost too great...** _

****


End file.
